[Noninvasive diagnosis of patellar chondromalacia]

The present paper investigates into plain film appearance of chondromalacia patellae verified with the aid of operative and arthroscopic inspection. Roentgenograms taken according to the defile-technique were obtained from 86 patients prior to the operation and at post operative intervals to give a two year follow up. It can be drawn from the results that the incidence of radiologically detectable type I lesions is in the range of about 60%, whereas the diagnostic sensitivity for type III lesions have been determined to reach 100%. While significant improvement of all clinical symptoms could be observed during the postoperative period, patellar roentgen morphology proved to be almost entirely unchanged. Therefore it may speculated that severe chondromalacia patellae is likely to represent an early sign of patellar osteoarthritis.